Rosa Parks: the mother of the civil rights movement

Rosa Parks was a black woman, who played an important part in the American Civil Rights Movement. She made changes to try to make life fair for black and white people in America.

Rosa Parks was tired. She had worked long hours that day as a seamstress at a local clothing store in Montgomery, Alabama. However, it was not because she was physically tired that she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. It was because she was worn-out from being pushed around. She was tired of the discrimination in the world around her.

 Discrimination is when a person is treated differently or judged unfairly by others. Rosa Parks lived at a time and in a place where people were discriminated against based on the colour of their skin. Black people were often treated differently than white people. They could not shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, or even use the same water fountains as white people

She was an African American civil rights activist She has been called "the mother of the modern-day American civil rights movement"   and "the mother of the freedom movement." She was a member of the local chapter of  NAACP ( National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People ).

So that day on December 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks took a stand against discrimination by remaining seated on the bus. The rules for who could sit in which bus seat were unjust. At that time, there was a section of the bus for white people and a smaller section at the back of the bus for black people.

 As more white passengers boarded the bus that day, the bus driver demanded that Mrs. Parks and three other passengers in the “colored” section give up their seats to four white passengers. Mrs. Parks refused

to move. She was arrested, jailed, and fined.

The city’s African Americans then decided to boycott, or not ride city buses until the segregation law was changed. The boycott was led by  Martin Luther King Jr, who was then just beginning his career as a civil rights leader.

The  Montgomery boycott 
 went on until 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the U.S. Constitution did not allow segregation of buses. This gave hope to people who wanted all kinds of racial segregation to end. Within the next 10 years much progress was made.

 

 

A.     True  or False

1.     Rosa Parks worked as  a seamstress.

2.     She worked in a bookstore in Alabama.

3.     She refused to give her place to a white man.

4.     She didn’t approve the discrimination in the world around her.

5.     Rosa took a stand against discrimination on 1^st December 1955

6.     Segregation bus laws discriminated white people

7.     Rosa was fined because she refused to give up her place

8.     Martin Luther King jr led the bus boycott

9.     The boycott went on until 1956

10.  Rosa Parks became the grandmother of civil rights movement.

 

B.     Match the question to the answer

QUESTIONS	ANSWERS
A. What was the name of the name of the association Rosa Parks belonged to?	1. It is when a person is treated differently or judged unfairly by others
B . What is racial discrimination?	2. It was the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
C. What was the segregation bus law?	3. It was a law that set aside a section of the bus for white people and a smaller section at the back of the bus for black people.

 

A_____;   B_______; C______

 

C.     Answer the following questions.

 

1.     Who  was  Rosa Parks ?

2.     What was Rosa Parks job?

3.     Where did she work?

4.     Why did she refuse to give up her sit on the bus?

5.     What did happen to Rosa after her refusing?

6.     How black people were treated differently?

7.     Who led the Montgomery  bus boycott ?

8.     How long did the boycott last ?

9.     Why did the boycott finish?

 

Production

D.    Answer the personal questions

 

1.     Have you ever been discriminated? Why? Why not?

2.     How people could be discriminated in your school?

3.     Have you helped or seen someone who has been discriminated? How ?